Tinsukia: Twenty-six passengers on board a single-engine boat had a narrow escape after the boat in which they were sailing capsized in the Dibang River in Assam’s Tinsukia district on Wednesday evening, prompting top administration and police officials to rush to the spot.
The passengers were saved by the locals.
The incident occurred while the boat was ferrying the passengers from Chapakhowa to the Amarpur river bank under the Sadiya sub-division, around 90 km east of Tinsukia town.
“No casualties have been reported as yet,” deputy commissioner of Tinsukia, Swapneel Paul, told this correspondent.
A source in DDMA said according to preliminary information, the boat was going from Chapakhowa towards the Amarpur river bank. “As it was about to reach the bank at around 4.30 pm, the boat hit an uprooted tree and capsized.”
“Hearing the hue and cry, the locals immediately jumped into the river and saved all the passengers,” the source said, adding, “Three four-wheeler vehicles and two motorcycles are still submerged in the river.”
The source said a team from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has reached the spot and is trying to retrieve the vehicle.
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However, it is not clear whether the boat was overcrowded and were the safety jackets in place.
Attempts to speak to the in-charge of a sub-divisional officer of Sadiya Madhurjya Buragohain turned futile.
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